System for transferring individual coffee packages from a container to the extraction chamber of a machine for making espresso coffee

ABSTRACT

A container ( 6 ) filled with coffee pods is engaged adjacent to the extraction chamber of the coffee machine and a mobile closure element ( 10 ) operates underneath the container mouth to control the opening and closure of the container, so that the bottommost pod may drop out and be received by elements that transport it to the open extraction chamber ( 3 ), which is then closed to permit the percolation of a cup of coffee; the elements that effect the passage of the pod from the container to the extraction chamber, just like those that cause the opening and closure of the container mouth and the closure and opening of the extraction chamber, as also the activation of the pump that moves the percolation water and the removal of the exhausted pod, may be either manual or automatic.

The present invention concerns a system for transferring individualcoffee packages from a container to an extraction chamber of a machinefor making espresso coffee.

The invention solves the problem of having to handle individual coffeepackages when these are transferred from a container to the extractionchamber, the said container being sealed at the factory and then openedjust before the packages are to be used. The invention also comes togrips with the problem of keeping these packages in the open containeras far as possible protected against the air until each package actuallybecomes transferred into the extraction chamber of the coffee machine.

It is known that the term “espresso coffee” refers to coffee intended tobe drunk immediately after having been prepared by means of thepercolation of hot water under pressure and that the term ‘extractionchamber’ refers to the part of the coffee machine in which thispercolation is effected either through an individual coffee package orthrough a dose of loose coffee not contained in a package.

The term “individual coffee package” refers to a package that in commonusage is known as “pod”, “capsule”, “cartridge” or other commercialterms. These packages contain a dose of roasted and ground coffeesufficient to provide one or more cups of coffee, though the number ofcups that such a package may produce is irrelevant for the purposes ofthe present invention.

The pod is a dose of coffee compressed between two layers of paperthrough which water can readily percolate or some other equivalentmaterial and as a general rule assumes the form of a disc—dimensions:thickness of the order of 10 mm and diameter in the range between 35 mmand 50 mm—surrounded by a crown or border consisting of the two layersof paper welded together, where the said crown or border may likewise becircular or polygonal. The pod is thus a package that has to beprotected against the attack by the air from the moment it is producedright through to the moment of use.

The capsule and the cartridge are doses of coffee contained in awrapping, generally having the shape of a truncated pyramid, a cylinderor a disc, and generally made of plastic, aluminium foil or multi-layermaterial, and therefore generally well protected against attack by air,after the wrapping has been enclosed in an appropriate extractionchamber, it is punctured above and below, so that the hot water will beable to percolate through its coffee contents. As compared with pods,capsules and cartridges therefore have less need for being protectedagainst attack, but it may nevertheless be desirable to assure them along period of conservation by means of the system constituting thesubject of the invention.

For simplicity, in the description that follows each individual dose ofcoffee will be conventionally referred to as a pod.

Two types of espresso coffee machines operating with pods are at presentknown, namely a type in which each pod is manually transferred into thefraction chamber after having opened a container that is generallysealed and a type in which each pod, comprised on a belt that carries aplurality of pods and conserved in a sealed container that is openedonly at the moment of use, is transferred into the extraction chamber bymeans of mechanical devices.

In neither case, however, is it possible to avoid the pod having to behandled by an operator and this means that all the pods of a containercome into contact with the environmental air and undergo ageing. In thefirst case, the user will have to remove the sealing closure, open thecontainer cover, pick up the pod to be used in the machine and thenreplace the cover. In the second case the handling occurs when the podbelt is loaded into the machine. In this phase the operator needs aminimum of technical knowledge of the machine and also a certain skill.In the second case there is also the problem that the organolepticproperties of the coffee will rapidly deteriorate as the pods comecloser to the device that heats the percolation water.

With a view to obviating all the aforesaid drawbacks, the inventionconsist of a system for transferring the pod from the container to theextraction chamber associated with an espresso coffee machine andcomprising:

-   -   at least one tubular container that may be either rigid or        semi-rigid and contains a load of pods stacked one on top of the        other and which, as soon as it has been deprived of the hermetic        closure element that closes its mouth, is attached to the        machine in such a way that its own engagement means engage with        the corresponding receiving means associated with the machine in        a loading position adjacent to the extraction chamber, the said        container performs the twofold function of container and loader,        since—apart from containing a group of pods—it also performs the        function of “feeding” the machine with the necessary pods; for        the sake of simplicity, however, we shall continue to describe        this part solely as ‘container’.    -   a mobile closure means that can be associated with the machine        to perform controlled displacements from a position in which the        mouth of the container is closed (closure position) to a        position in which the said mouth is open (open position), so        that the bottommost pod in the container may drop out of it,        after which the mouth of the container is immediately closed        again by the mobile

In the area of beverage distributors, document FR 1 564 088 is known,that discloses an automatic dispenser device suitable for preparingbeverages of various kind. The beverages may be hot or cold onesobtained from liquid or concentrate products, solid and powderlyproducts contained in hermetically closed capsules of troncoconicalshape, in turn contained, stacked one on top of the other, in certaintubular containers. The dispenser is provided with a number of groups ofcontainers each of which contains a certain number of capsules of acertain product so that the dispenser may be activated by a user fordelivering a desired beverage. The dispenser is such that the content ofany capsule falls into a mixing chamber where it mixes with hot or coldliquid poured therein and is certainly not adapted to brew an espressocoffee. As to the structure and function of the distributor, each groupof containers is positioned on a rotating drum provided with a passagefor a capsule and mechanical means provide to transfer a capsule in thedirection of the mixing chamber, to cut the head of the capsule and tomake the capsule turn over in order its content to fill into saidchamber. This dispenser works sealed capsules loaded into opencontainers.

closure means;

-   -   an opening in the machine at the loading position to enable the        bottommost pod to pass from the container into a transfer means        below it when the mobile closure element is in the open        position;    -   a transfer means to carry the pod that has dropped onto it from        the container ill the loading position to the extraction chamber        (the position of the transfer means when it is below the mouth        of the container in the loading position will henceforth be        likewise described as loading position);    -   control means to activate in sequence the aforesaid mobile        closure means and the transfer means and means for performing        the phases of closing the extraction chamber after the pod bas        been transferred into it, the return of the said mobile closure        means to its rest position, the pump that pumps the water to the        heating device and the exaction chamber, the percolation of the        coffee, the opening of the extraction chamber, the expulsion of        the exhausted pod, so that the system may be ready to perform,        when so commanded by the user, the same sequence of operations        on the next pod released from the container.

When referred to the container, the term ‘tubular’ is to be generallyunderstood as meaning ‘cylindrical and hollow’, though not solely so;the term. ‘tubular’ is to be understood as referring to an oblong andhollow container having an internal cross-section suitable forcontaining a certain number of pods stacked one on top of the other andhaving their circular or polygonal outer perimeter defined by the shapeof the crown consisting of the two layers of paper welded together. Thiscontainer is made of a material suitable for containing food, i.e.capable—either on its own account or following an appropriate surfacetreatment—of isolating the contents from the penetration of outside airand humidity and, further, minimizing the transmission of heat throughit

Preferably:

The transfer means will comprise parts that will cause the mobileclosure means to move away from the mouth of the container, the transferof a pod into the extraction chamber and the return of the said parts totheir respective rest positions, the mobile closure means is essentiallya ‘plug’, the part that transfers a pod into the extraction chamber willhenceforth be called positioning means and will generally be an armcapable of carrying out an angular or rectilinear movement, the plug andthe arm being controlled by a single motor means or by two respectivemotor means that could be manual, electromechanical, hydraulic orpneumatic.

Preferably again the mobile closure means will be a retractable plugcapable of plugging the mouth of the container placed in the loadingposition and controlled in such a manner as to cause it to retractvertically and then to become displaced sideways and thus to permit theoperation of the positioning means that transfers the pod into theextraction chamber.

Alternatively, the positioning means will be an endless belt revolvingin the direction that goes from the loading position to the extractionchamber and provided with a large number of seatings, all equidistantfrom each other, each of the seating being capable of receiving a podwhen a controlled movement brings the seating, step by step, under themobile closure means, so that a pod can be received in the seating andthen transported to the extraction chamber. The belt also comprisesappropriately spaced openings to permit the passage across the belt ofthe coffee eventually to be delivered from the spout of the machine.

Alternatively again, the system will comprise a disc that is made torotate in an intermittent manner by a motor organ and carries, equallyspaced along its periphery, a number of rigid tubular containers, eachof which contains a load of pods stacked one on top of the other and isprovided with engagement means that, after the container has beendeprived of its hermetic closure element, can be made to engage withcorresponding engagement means provided on the disc, so that thecontainers can be brought, one after the other, into a loading positionadjacent to the extraction chamber, in this position, every time theconsumer gives an appropriate command, there are activated the ers meansto carry the pods, one at a time, to the filter. A sensor or counterinforms the control organ when the container in the loading position hasconsigned its last pod, whereupon the motor organ causes the disc toperform a rotation to bring the next container full of pods into theloading position.

The advantages of the system are as follows:

-   -   the pods to be loaded in a machine are contained in at least one        sealed tubular container, which may be designed to contain any        desired number of pods, for example, a dozen for a family        machine or a small office or thirty-six for an automatic machine        in service in larger environments or, again, there may be a        plurality of such containers to accommodate a much larger number        of pods; the loading of the pods is performed by simply removing        the sealing closure of the container and introducing its        engagement means into the guides on the machine;    -   it avoids the operator having to handle the product or having to        touch it in any way, and this irrespective of whether the        machine is manual or automatic,    -   the container remains closed even when, after the removal of its        seal, it has been loaded into the machine;    -   all the pods in the container introduced into the machine remain        well away from the sources of beat and do not therefore suffer        deterioration of their organoleptic properties;    -   each exhausted pod is automatically removed after the extraction        of the coffee and this is of advantage even in a manually        operated machine, because in the known machines the pod often        remains forgotten in the extraction chamber, where it will tend        to adhere to the gasket, so that subsequent attempts to remove        it may tear the paper and cause spillage of the coffee grounds;    -   the operations of cleaning the extraction chamber, together with        a possible filter and filter carrier and, quite generally, the        parts of the chamber in contact with the extracted coffee are        very simple, which is very different from what happens in the        known machines, where the entire coffee extraction unit has to        be dismantled.

The invention will now be described in greater detail by means of someembodiment examples and reference to the attached drawings, where:

FIG. 1 shows a first perspective view,

FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of a detail of FIG. 1,

FIG. 1B shows a sequence of elevation views,

FIG. 1C shows a second perspective view of the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a first partial plan view,

FIGS. 3A and 3B show further elevations (which appear partiallysectioned),

FIG. 4 is another elevation view,

FIG. 4/1-4/9 show a sequence of elevation views illustrating successiveoperating phases,

FIG. 5 shows a plan view,

FIG. 6 shows another elevation view,

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view, and

FIG. 8 shows another perspective view.

FIG. 1 shows the structure 1 of a coffee machine that serves as supportfor conventional means and means in accordance with the invention, thesaid structure consisting of an upper plate 12, an intermediate plate 13and a lower plate 14; a conventional heat exchanger 2 is capable ofassuming the instantaneous heating of the water contained in a tank notshown on the drawing; 3 is a conventional chamber for extracting coffeefrom a coffee pod; 4 is a conventional sorting plane on which to rest acoffee cup 5 complete with a drip pan below the gratings A rigidcylindrical and tubular container 6 contains 36 round coffee podsstacked one on top of the other and, having just been deprived of thesealing closure applied to its mouth, is here show engaged with anadapter means 7 fixed to the machine by means of two parallel guides 8in a loading position adjacent to the extraction chamber. Thefunctioning of the system for transferring the individual pods will nowbe described in general terms and subsequently described in greaterdetail by reference to subsequent figures. In the said loading positionof the container, mobile beneath the upper plate 12, there is a plug atthe end of an arm that is hinged on the intermediate plate 13 below it)the said plug serving to close the mouth of the container and to sustainthe bottommost pod inside it; a manual control lever 10 can be moved tothe left, thereby causing, at one and the same time, the displacement ofthe plug and of a means for positioning the pod, where the said means,sliding below the pod still inside the mouth of the container, comes torest to the left of the loading position and the pod, which in themeantime has dropped from the mouth of the container and has come torest on the intermediate plate 13; the positioning means engages the podwith the appropriately convex profile of its extremity.

It will readily be understood that the adapter capable of being fixed tothe machine is provided with an opening situated in the loadingposition, so that it can collaborate with the transfer means beneath it.In this solution the operator will hold the adapter with one hand, usingthe other to grip the container and make it engage with the engagementmeans provided on the adapter, which he will then mount in its correctposition on the upper plate 12.

FIG. 1A provides a more detailed view of the adapter 7 with the tabs 8 aintended to engage with the guides 8 fixed on the plate 12 and shown inFIG. 1. The circular opening 7 a passing through the adapter consists ofan upper part and a lower part; the upper part has a larger diameterthan the lower part and carries a circular shoulder 7 b to sustain themouth of the container, which is kept in position by the two oppositesnap fasteners 7 g and has a second diameter such as to permit pod topass through it on its way from the container to the extraction chamber,a shutter 7 d closes the mouth of the container during the operation ofapplying the container to the adapter to prevent the pods from droppingout; the sequences of this operation are schematically illustrated byFIG. 1B, where not all the reference numbers identifying the variousparts in the component figures have been shown, thus avoiding unduecomplication of the drawing, and where:

-   -   B1 shows a container 6 full of pods 34 held in a vertical        position while an operator removes the closure seal S from the        container mouth; the latter is surrounded by a radial border 9        sufficiently large to engage with corresponding engagement        means,    -   B2 shows the adapter 7 already described in FIG. 1A brought to        bear against the open container mouth 6; the shutter 7 d is in        its closed position;    -   B3 shows the adapter 7 applied to the mouth of the container 6;        the border 9 of the latter is now kept engaged with the adapter        by means of the snap fasteners 7 c;    -   B4 shows the adapter 7 turned upside down and applied to the        machine; the tabs 8 a of the adapter are engaged in the guides        8; the shutter 7 is still maintained in its closed position;    -   B5 shows the shutter 7 d in its open position, thus permitting        the bottommost pod to drop onto the plug 18 of the system in        position beneath the container.

FIG. 1C shows an alternative to the use of the adapter 7 illustrated inFIG. 1; with a view to permitting the container 6 to be applied to themachine, the upper plate of the machine is provided with a pair ofparallel guides 8 that combine into a semicircular loop 8 a at theloading position; the border 9 surrounding the container mouth becomesengaged between the guides 8 and 8 a and a slide 8 b is also provided,of which the terminal part 8 bb projecting beyond the upper plate 12 isbent vertically downwards. The seal closing the container mouth isremoved while the container is held with its mouth pointing upwards; thecontainer is then inclined until its mouth comes to bear against beevertical part 8 bb of the slide 8 b, thereby preventing the pods fromdropping out of the container, the container 6 is then pushed along theslide Sb between the guides 8 as far as the loading position shown inthe figure.

Taken, together, FIGS. 2, 3A and 3B illustrate manual means fortransferring into an extraction chamber the bottommost pod contained ina container.

Hinged on a vertical pin 15 projecting from the upper face of theintermediate plate 13 there are mounted, one above the other, thefollowing three organs that in the figures are shown in their restpositions:

-   -   a first arm 16 that cares on its free end a cup 17 in which        there can slide in the vertical direction a closing organ or        plug 18 that at its lower end is provided with a cylindrical        stem 19 that extends downwards through a central hole in the cup        17;    -   a second positioning arm 20 that on the right-hand side of its        free end is provided with a concavity 21 corresponding to the        convexity of the pods that are to be handled by the system;    -   a control lever 10 that finds itself engaged under the        positioning arm 20, projects from the perimeter of the        intermediate plate in such a way as to permit its being gripped        by the operator and is connected to the positioning arm 20 by        means of a pin 22 in the vicinity of the pin 15.

The container 6 is in the loading position on the plate 12, engaged inthe guide 8, and directly above the plug 18. In addition to the threeorgans 16, 20, 10 the intermediate plate 13 is also provided with: anarcuate slot 23 in which there can slide the stem 19 of the plug 18 whenthe arm 16 is made to rotate about the pin 15; a buffer pin 2 ⁴ to bringthe positioning arm 20 to a halt in its right-hand rest position, i.e.when it bears against the filter 28 into which the pod (not shown in thefigure) has to be inserted; a helicoidal spring 25 that has one endfixed to the control lever 10 and the other end fixed to the arm 16,which provides a return force for the control lever and brings the plug18 into the closure position and therefore the positioning arm 20 intoits rest position (obviously, however, the control lever 10 can also bemanually returned to its rest position); an opening 26 into which thepod is dropped after it has been used; an opening 27 to receive thelower part of the extraction chamber 3 that carries its filter 28substantially at the level of the intermediate plate 13; an unblockingmeans 29 capable of sliding vertically between two guides not shown inthe figure and kept in contact with the intermediate plate 13 by meansof a spring clip 30, the said means having an upper end that extendsthrough an opening in the intermediate plate 13 and thus comes to besituated just below the control lever 10 in its rest position, while itslower end extends to form an arm, 32 that inclines towards the stem 19of the plug 18; at the end of the arm 32 there is an organ with anoscillating hook 31 that can become engaged with a cavity 33 of the stem19. The upper part of the extraction chamber 3 is controlled in an upand down movement in the direction of the arrow F, so that it can becomeclosed after a pod has been inserted and then open again after thecoffee has percolated.

The parts 10, 29, 30, 31, 32 intervene to implement the various phasesof the manual transfer of the pods, one after the other, from thecontainer 6 to the filter 28 and, more particularly, the removal of theplug 18 from the mouth of the container, the movement of the plug awayfrom the loading position, towards the left, the dropping of the pod 34onto the intermediate plate 13, the engagement of the concave part 21 ofthe positioning arm 20 with the left-hand side of the pod, the pushingof the positioning arm 20 by means of the control lever 10, and thepushing of the pod from its loading position on the intermediate plate13 to the filter 28 by means of the positioning arm 20. When a pod 34has to be transferred from the container 6 to the filter 28, theoperator lowers the control lever 10 and then, overcoming the resistanceof the spring clip 30, causes the lowering of the unblocking means 29with its arm 31 and oscillating hook 32, which in its causes the plug 18at the bottom of the cup 17 to be dragged downwards, so that the upperend of the plug will eventually come to be situated below the level ofthe upper plate 12 (see FIG. 3B); at this point the operator pushes thecontrol lever 10 towards the left so that the arm 16 and the positioningarm 20 will, respectively, be pushed and dragged until the stem 19 isbrought to a halt by the left-hand end of the arcuate slot 23 and thepositioning arm comes to be situated to the left of the loadingposition; at this point, moreover, the pod 34 drops onto theintermediate plate 13 with its left-hand side in contact with theconcavity 21 of the positioning arm 20. If the operator now pushes thecontrol lever 10 towards the right, the said lever will drag the arm 16with its cup 17 until it eventually comes up against he oscillating hook32 and thus comes to rest in the loading position in which the cup 18 ispushed by the spring clip 30, acting through the part 29 and 31, intothe mouth of the container, while the lever 10 continues its rightwardmotion to push the positioning lever 20 against the buffer pin 24,position in which the pod 34 is inserted into the filter. The controllever 10 and the positioning arm 20 are then brought back into theirrest positions. When all the pods in the container 6 have been used, anoperator will have to remove it and put a fill container in its place;before he can remove the empty container, the operator will have to movethe plug 18 out of the container mouth by lowering the control lever 10just enough to obtain this result.

Summarizing, the first operation that will generally have to beperformed to activate the system is that of opening the little door thatprotects the space in which the coffee cup is placed to make it standbeneath the spout through which the coffee leaves the machine. Whilethis door is open, a first buffer pin prevents the command thatactivates the means for picking up and positioning the pod. After thecup has been placed in this space and the door has been closed again,the first buffer pin is displaced, so that the control lever can firstbe pushed downwards and then moved sideways. This operation causes themobile closure means or plug to be removed from the container mouth andsubsequently to be pushed to the side and away from the loadingposition, whereby the positioning arm is likewise dragged to the sideand away from the loading position, thus permitting a pod to drop fromthe container onto the intermediate plate by the side of the said lever.After this sideways movement has brought it into its extreme lateralposition, the control lever is pushed in the opposite direction, so thatit will come to push the positioning arm that carries the said pod intothe extraction chamber. During this second sideways movement of thecontrol lever the plug is brought back into its initial position toclose the container mouth and to remain in its closure position flanksto the action of an organ that exerts an upward pressure on it. When thecontrol lever has attained its extreme position against a buffer pin asa result of this second movement; so that that pod has been inserted inthe extraction chamber, the control lever will perform a third sidewaysmovement that brings it back into the loading position. Appropriatemechanical or electromechanical means will prevent the protection doorfrom being opened while the control lever is being operated. Oncompletion of the said third movement, the return of the control leverinto the loading position operates an electric switch that will causethe ex on chamber to close and. and brings the pump into action, thustriggering the percolation of the coffee. When the extraction has beencompleted, the extraction chamber is opened again, after which theprotection door can be opened to remove the cup of coffee. When thisdoor is opened, its rotation through the first 20° also brings intoaction—through an appropriate lever system—a conventional means capableof removing the exhausted pod from the extraction chamber and causing itto drop into an appropriate collection receptacle. When the controllever is returned into the loading position (third movement) and thepercolation has been terminated it becomes possible to perform a newcoffee extraction cycle. When the protection doors is open, the filterholder can be extracted to clean the filter and the funnel.

The manual mechanism illustrated by FIGS. 2, 3A and 3B may be replacedby an automatic mechanism as indicated in FIG. 4 and the operatingsequence of FIGS. 4/1 to 4/9. This mechanism is controlled by anelectronic circuit board that activates four different pusher means(hereinafter to be referred to more simply as ‘pusbers’) to implementthe phases that, following the removal of the seal that closes thecontainer mouth and the manual phase of attaching the latter to themachine, range from the opening of the plug to the expulsion of theexhausted pod and the return of the machine to the position in which anew operating sequence can be commenced The pushers can be of theelectromechanical, hydraulic or oil-pressure type. The reference numbersshown in FIG. 4 comprise all the parts described in the operatingsequence of FIGS. 4/1 to 4/9 so that the discussion of the latter can bekept very brief.

FIG. 4 shows a container 6 attached to a coffee machine by means of theengagement of its radial border 9 in the guides 8-8 a in the loadingposition adjacent to the extraction chamber 3; the lowermost pod 34 reston the plug 18, where the up and down motion of the plug stem iscontrolled by a positioning means P1 in the form of a hydraulic cylinderthat, just like the other positioning means P2, P3, P4 of the mechanism,is controlled by an electric circuit board not shown in the figure topush a relevant mechanical organ (which in the case of P1 is the plug18) into a desired position and subsequently to bring it back from thatposition; arranged between the plates 12 and 13 there is a separationblade 50 to separate the pod resting on the plug 18 from the pods aboveit, where the said blade is attached to the shaft 51 capable ofperforming a horizontal motion under the control of a positioning meansP2 to push the pod resting on the plug 18 into the filter 28; apositioning means P3 controls the vertical movement of the mobile upperpart of the extraction chamber 3; a positioning means P4 controls thehorizontal movement of a plate 53 that has the task of removing theexhausted pod from the filter 28, as will subsequently be illustrated byreference to FIG. 5. It will readily be understood that the saidpositioning means could be electromechanical, hydraulic or pneumatic,

FIG. 4/1 shows a container 6 already engaged in the guides 8, but notyet in the loading position;

FIG. 4/2 substantially reproduces the situation illustrated by FIG. 4:the container 6 is in the loading position and the machine has not yetreceived the command to commence an operating cycle;

FIG. 4/3 shows the phase in which, after the operator has pressed an‘ON’ button (not shown in the figure) to commence the operation, thepositioning means P1 receives a pulse that causes the lowering of theplug 18 and the descent of the pods within the container to the pointwhere the bottommost pod 34 comes to be situated in front of the shaft51;

FIG. 4/4 shows the phase in which the positioning means P2 receives apulse that causes the shaft 5 to move to the right until the pod 34comes to be situated in the filter 28 and the separation blade 50 comesto be situated between the said pod and the shaft 51;

FIG. 4/5 shows the phase in which the positioning means P2 receives apulse that causes the shaft 51 and the blade 50 to move back to theleft;

FIG. 4/6 shows the phase in which the positioning means P1 receives apulse that causes the plug 18 to rise until it again closes the mouth ofthe container;

FIG. 4/7 shows the phase in which the positioning means P3 receives apulse that causes the long of the upper part of the extraction chamber3, which thus comes to bear against the lower part of the chamber withthe pod 34 enclosed between the said upper and lower part;

FIG. 4/8 shows the phase in which the positioning means P3 receives apulse that causes the upper part of the extraction chamber 3 to riseupwards, thus uncovering the exhausted pod 34;

FIG. 4/9 shows the phase in which the positioning means P4 receives apulse that causes the plate 53 to move horizontally, sliding in contactwith the anterior edge of the filter 28, to push the exhausted pod outof the extraction chamber.

Following the sequence that has just been illustrated, the machine isready to repeat a further sequence upon receiving a new command from the‘ON’ button and so on.

FIG. 5 further clarifies the phase illustrated by FIG. 4/9: theexhausted pod 34 rests with its edge 34 a on the filter 28 and the pulsereceived by the positioning means P4 causes the plate 53 to move forwardin the direction of the arrow F; the plate thus penetrates between theanterior edge of the filter and the edge of the pod, which is thusraised and pushed into the opening 26 provided in the intermediate plate13, so that it can drop into a receptacle placed beneath it (but notshown in the figure); the plug 18, the positioning means P2, theseparation blade 50 and the shaft 51 can also be seen in the figure.

FIG. 6 shows that the positioning means that carries a pod into theextraction chamber is an endless conveyer belt 40 revolving in aclockwise direction F over two opposite drums, one of which is driven,operating between the loading position and the filter 28, where the saidbelt is provided with equally spaced openings 42, each of which canreceive a pod 34 when a controlled movement brings each of the saidopenings, step by step, under the container 6 and under a separationblade 41 capable of moving in the direction of the arrow F1. Each podsettles into an opening of the belt 40, being sustained there by itsedge 34 a. When the machine is activated to make coffee, the blade 41 iswithdrawn from the position in which it closes the mouth of thecontainer 6, thus permitting a pod to drop into the opening of the belt40 beneath it and immediately afterwards the belt 40 set in motion andthen brought to rest again after a the pod has been inserted in thefilter 28 of the extraction chamber 3; as soon as the belt has moved,the separation blade 41 is brought back into the closure position shownin the figure, after which a programmed command causes the mobile upperpart of the extraction chamber to be lowered onto the fixed lower part33 of the chamber and activates the percolation of the coffee; oncompletion of the percolation the upper part of the extraction chamberreturns into its raised position and the belt resumes its forward motionto let the exhausted pod to drop into the tank 44 when the belt reversesat the end of its run. The belt also comprises appropriately spacedopenings 42A that permit the coffee to pass through it on its way to thedelivery spout of the machine.

Alternatively, each of the openings 42 can carry a filter 28 to replacethe filter permanently housed in the lower part of the extractionchamber 3; this solution offers the advantage of providing additionalprotection for the pod during the time that elapses between the momentwhen the pod drops onto the belt 40 and the moment it enters theextraction chamber. The problem of the passage of the filter over thedrums D is solved in various ways, cases in point being a concaveconformation of the surface of the drums or using a flexible materialfor the construction of the filters.

FIG. 7 shows a group of containers 6 equally spaced along the peripheryof a disc 45 rotating in the direction of the arrow F2 around thecentral axis 46 of a fixed platform 47, the said containers, each ofwhich contains a load of pods stacked one on top of the other, deprivedof the hermetic closure elements that closed their mouths, being engagedwith their own engagement means 9 in corresponding receiving means 8provided on the rotating disc, so that, one after the other, they arebrought by means of a controlled movement into a loading position 48adjacent to the extraction chamber, where there is situated theretractable plug 18, which can be controlled by means of a mechanism asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 2, 3A, 3B or 4 to transfer a pod intothe extraction chamber. With a view to rendering the drawing morereadily comprehensible, the container situated in the loading positionhas not been shown in the figure.

FIG. 8 shows an alternative to the solution described in FIG. 7; alinear support 45 a can be moved, step by step and under the action of acontrolled pushing means (not shown in the figure), in the direction ofthe arrow F3 along a guide 54 fixed on the upper plate 12 of the coffeemachine; the support can carry five containers 6 (though only two areactually shown in the figure) in the five seatings 60 (receiving means 8are provided in each of the five seatings to receive the engagementmeans 9 of the containers); the container brought to a halt above theretractable plug 18 in the loading position 48 a adjacent to theextraction chamber 3 furnishes one pod after the other with thepreviously described means until it becomes emptied; at this point thepushing means causes the support 45 a to move forward by one step, thusbringing the next container into the loading position, and so on. Whenall the containers have become emptied, they are manually removed andreplaced by full containers that have been deprived of the hermeticclosure elements that closed their mouths. With a view to rendering thedrawing more readily comprehensible, the container situated in theloading position has not been shown in the figure.

1. System for transferring individual coffee packages (34) from acontainer to the extraction chamber (3) of a machine for making espressocoffee, the individual coffee packages being stacked one on the top ofthe other into a tubular container (6) and the system comprising meansbelow the container for realizing said transfer, a water source formaking the coffee infusion, a heater for bringing the water up to thedesired temperature, a pump for pumping the water into the extractionchamber, operating means for activating the machine, controlling theextraction chamber made up of a fixed lower part into which there isreceived a coffee package and a mobile upper part that can close ontoand open from the coffee package, as well as means for controlling thefunctions of the machine, the said system being characterized in that:the container (6) is provided with a closure means (S) which seals themouth thereof and is provided with engagement means (9) suitable forengaging receiving means (7, 8) in the coffee machine as the closuremeans (S) is removed from the container, the receiving means beingassociated with the coffee machine in a loading position adjacent to theextraction chamber (3), a mobile closure means (18) is associated withthe machine to perform controlled displacements from a position in whichthe container mouth is closed to a position in which the container mouthis open to let a coffee package (34) drop out of the container (6), anopening in the machine at the loading position permits the bottommostcoffee package to pass from the container (6) to transfer means (10, 16,20) beneath it when the mobile closure means (18) is in the openposition; the transfer means (10, 16, 20) are suitable for displacingthe mobile closure means (18) from the closure position and carrying thecoffee package (34) from the loading position to the extraction chamber(3); control means activate in sequence the aforesaid mobile closuremeans (18), the transfer means and means for performing the phases ofclosing the extraction chamber after the coffee package has beentransferred into it, the return of the said mobile closure means (18)into a rest position, the pump that pumps the water to the heater andthe extraction chamber, the percolation of the coffee, the opening ofthe extraction chamber (3), the expulsion of the exhausted coffeepackage so that the system may be ready to operate, when so commanded bya user, on the next coffee package released by the container.
 2. Asystem in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the receivingmeans (7, 8) is an adapter element independent from the machine andcarries means (7 c) suitable for receiving the engagement means (9) ofthe container (6) before the adapter is fixed to the machine in theloading position.
 3. A system in accordance with claim 1, characterizedin that the container (6) is engaged on a support area (8 b) betweenreceiving means in the form of two parallel guides (8) in the loadingposition adjacent to the extraction chamber, the support area (8 b)being fixed to the machine and carrying upstream of the guides (8) apart (8 bb) that is bent vertically downwards and serves as a slide atthe moment of loading the container (6) in the machine.
 4. A system inaccordance with claim 1, characterized in that the transfer means (10,16, 20) are hinged on one and the same pin (15) projecting from theupper face of the intermediate plate (13) and, in their rest position,are defined as: a first arm (16) that carries at its free end a cup (17)in which vertical movements can be performed by a closure means (18)that comprises on its underside a stem (19) extending through a centralhole of the cup (17); a second positioning arm (20) that carries on oneside of its free end a concavity (21) corresponding to the convexity ofthe coffee package to be processed in the system; a control lever (10)that is situated at a level below that of the positioning arm (20),projects beyond the perimeter of the intermediate plate (13) to permitits being gripped and is connected to the positioning arm (20) by meansof a pin (22) adjacent to the said vertical pin (15); the said meansbeing associated with: an arcuate slot (23) formed in the intermediateplate (13) in which there can slide the stem (19) of the closure means(18) when the arm (16) is made to rotate about the pin (15); a bufferpin (24) to bring the positioning arm (20) to a halt in its stoppingposition against the filter into which the coffee package is to beinserted; a helicoidal spring (25) that has one of its ends fixed to thecontrol lever (10) and the other end fixed to the intermediate plate(13) so as to exert a return force on the control lever and therefore onthe positioning arm and bring the closure means (18) back into itsclosure position.
 5. A system in accordance with claim 1, characterizedin that the mobile closure means, the transfer means and the controlmeans that perform the sequence of phases from the opening of theclosure means right through to the expulsion of the exhausted coffeepackage and the return of the machine into the condition in which it isready to commence a new sequence of operations are controlled by anelectronic circuit board that activates a group of positioning means(P1, P2, P3, P4) so that respectively: P1 may receive a first pulse thatcauses the lowering of the closure means (18) and the descent of thecoffee packages (34) along the container in such a way as to bring thebottommost coffee package (34) into a position in front of a movableshaft (51); P2 may receive a first pulse that causes the movable shaft(51) to move towards the right until the bottommost coffee packagebecomes positioned within the filter (28) and a separation blade (50)becomes positioned between the bottommost coffee package and the oneabove it and P2 may receive a second pulse that causes the movable shaft(51) and the separation blade (50) to move towards the left; P1 mayreceive a second pulse that causes the closure means (18) to rise andclose the container mouth; P3 may receive a first pulse that causes thelowering of the upper part of the extraction chamber (3) and thenreceive a second pulse that causes the rising of the upper part of theextraction chamber (3) after the percolation of a cup of coffee to leavethe exhausted coffee package (34) uncovered; P4 may receive a firstpulse that causes a plate (53) to move horizontally, sliding in contactwith the anterior edge of the filter (28), to push the exhausted coffeepackage out of the extraction chamber and then receive a second pulsethat causes the plate (53) to return to its rest position.
 6. A systemin accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the positioning meansis an endless belt (40) revolving from the loading position to theextraction chamber (3) and provided with a large number of equallyspaced openings (42) each of which may receive a coffee package (34)when a controlled movement brings each of the said openings, step bystep, under the container (6) and under a closure means in the form of amobile blade (41) and that when the machine is activated to make coffee,the mobile blade (41) is withdrawn from the position in which it closesthe mouth of the container (6) and permits a coffee package to drop intothe opening of the belt (40) beneath it, the belt being immediatelyafterwards set in motion and then brought to rest again after the coffeepackage has been inserted in the extraction chamber (3), and that assoon as the belt has moved, the mobile blade (41) is brought back intothe closure position, the belt (40) being provided with opening (42A)that permit the coffee to pass into the cup (5).
 7. A system inaccordance with claim 6, characterized in that each opening (42) in thebelt (40) carries a filter (28) that replaces the filter permanentlyhoused in the lower part of the extraction chamber (3).
 8. A system inaccordance with claim 1, characterized in that it comprises, equallyspaced along the periphery of a rotating disc or along a linear supportmounted on the coffee machine, a group of containers (6) engaged withtheir own engagement means (9) in receiving means (8) of the rotatingdisc or linear support to be brought, one after the other and by meansof a controlled movement, into a loading position (48) adjacent to theextraction chamber, where there is situated the closure means (18) that,together with the opening, closure and transfer means, are operated toperform the phases from the opening of the closure means right throughto the expulsion of the exhausted coffee package and the return of themachine into the condition in which it is ready to commence a newoperating cycle.